Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart


When will this heavenly triumph, so long-awaited by Fatima devotées, come about?
And what will be the spiritual catalyst for it?



“Mediatrix of Mercy …. In this single title [are] contained the two greatest spiritual movements initiated by heaven for [our times]: the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Triumph of Divine Mercy”.




The Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici (Voice of the People for Mary Mediatrix) [VPMM] movement, an international lay, ecclesial movement, whose number of members and associates includes hundreds of bishops, and even cardinals, has given tremendous voice to this most eagerly awaited victory of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima: the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and era of peace. Apart from its hosting international conferences, VPMM has produced a magnificent 3-volume compendium on Mary as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate, entitled Contemporary Insights on a Fifth Marian Dogma (Queenship Publishing Company, CA), episcopally endorsed by cardinals and bishops world wide. This wonderful Marian apostolate may well be the very key to our future. Its principal spokesman is its President, Dr. Mark Miravalle, Professor of Theology and Mariology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, USA. Dr. Miravalle gave an address at the International John Paul II Divine Mercy Symposium, in Washington, D.C., on the 25th of January, 1999; an address that seemed to encapsulate the whole spirit and message and program of then pope John Paul II. Here it is (emphasis added):

In his 1987 Marian encyclical, Redemptoris Mater, Pope John Paul II used a new title for the Blessed Virgin Mary, which unfortunately has been fundamentally ignored. [John Paul II] stated that our Blessed Virgin Mary “also has the specifically maternal role of Mediatrix of Mercy at Our Lord Jesus’ coming.”
In this single title [are] contained the two greatest spiritual movements initiated by heaven for [our times]: the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Triumph of Divine Mercy.
Can we not see in this title both the reference to the critical intercession of the Mother of God in our own times, and at the same time a profound complementarity with the messages of Blessed Faustina and Divine Mercy?
I would like to discuss this title, “Mediatrix of Mercy,” under two aspects: firstly, its theological foundations, and secondly, its prophetic context. In regards to its theological foundations, how can we call Our Lady the “Mediatrix of Mercy”? On what basis can we call her “Mediatrix” if, seemingly, Scripture speaks of only one Mediator? With regard to this title’s prophetic dimension, in what manner does the Mother of Jesus and Our Mother exercise this title and role for humanity in our present historical moment?
Does it fit in with the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart in the year we find ourselves …?
Let us first examine the theological foundations for the title Mediatrix of Mercy.
It is important to establish from the beginning that Mary’s role as Mediatrix is a result of unique participation in the acquisition of the graces of Calvary, for which she received from the Church the title “Co-redemptrix.” It is the Church that has given Our Lady this title, and [John Paul II], following the precedent of previous Papal Magisteriums, has referred to this role of Our Lady on at least six documented occasions as the “Co-redemptrix.” The prefix “co”, of course, never means “equal”, but always means “with”, from the Latin root “cum”. The title means “the woman with the Redeemer, not equal to the Redeemer.”
Our Lady is Mediatrix because she first participates in the acquisition of graces of redemption as the Co-redemptrix. The Papal Magisteriums [have] made it very clear that every grace and gift given from Christ to humanity [come] through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the omnium gratiarum, the Mediatrix of all graces and gifts, which come from our Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because she first participated with our Lord as the Co-redemptrix in acquiring those graces.
Sacred Scripture profoundly reveals the role of our Blessed Mother as Co-redemptrix. At the Annunciation, when Mary says “yes” to the angel and thereby gives her fiat (ct Lk 1:38), she gives to the Redeemer the instrument of redemption, his human body. In a discussion I had with the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta regarding the solemn papal definition of the co-redemptive role of Our Lady, within the first two minutes of speaking, Mother said, “Of course she is Co-redemptrix, of course. She gave Jesus his body and the body of Jesus is what saved us.” I replied, “Mother, that’s the difference between sanctity and theology. You say in two minutes what it takes the theologians three volumes to write.”
We can also look to the Presentation in Luke 2:25ff, where … Simeon’s prophecy also identifies the Mother of Jesus as a sign of contradiction. And any mother of a sign of contradiction will most certainly have the vocation of suffering. Simeon tells us that the child to be born of Mary will be the cause of the rise and fall of many. He then gazes at the mother and says, “your heart too will be pierced.” (Lk 2:25). Thus for thirty-three years the Mother with the Redeemer ponders the words of Simeon that her child is born to die, the child to which she alone gave flesh. Only one woman gave carne to the Incarnation, gave flesh to the Word made flesh, and the goal of this Incarnation was redemption and co-redemption. If we were to summarize the single mission that the Father gave to the Son and to the Woman, it is, as Galatians tells us, a mission of redemption and co-redemption (Gal 4:4). That is the purpose of the union of the Two Hearts, the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of our Mother Mary. The inestimable graces acquired by Jesus, the New Adam, and secondarily by Mary, the New Eve, must then be distributed to human hearts through Our Lady’s mediation as Mediatrix. This is the continuation of Our Mother’s co-redemptive role as the Mediatrix of All Graces.
The Papal Magisterium has repeatedly taught that since Mary uniquely participated with the Redeemer in the acquisition of every grace of redemption as Co-redemptrix, for this reason, Mary has rightly been granted the role by the Eternal Father, to participate uniquely with the Mediator in the distribution of every grace that flows from the Redemption as Mediatrix.[1]
Let us then examine a brief example of papal teachings on Our Lady’s role as Mediatrix of all graces:

1. Leo XIII: – “through whom [Christ] has chosen to be the dispenser of all heavenly graces” (Jucunda semper, 1883); “It is right to say that nothing at all of the immense treasury of every grace which the Lord accumulated – for ‘grace and truth come from Jesus Christ’ (Jn 1:17) -- nothing is imparted to us except through Mary…” (Octobri Mense, 1891).

2. St. Pius X: – “dispensatrix of all the gifts” acquired by the death of the Redeemer (Ad diem illum, AAS 36, 1904, p.453); “… she became most worthily the reparatrix of the lost world and dispensatrix of all the gifts that our Savior purchased for us by his death and his blood” (Ad diem illum, 1904; cf., Eadmer, De Eccellentia Virginis Mariae, c.9); “For she is the neck of our Head by which He communicates to his Mystical Body all spiritual gifts” (Ad diem illum, 1904).

3. Pope Benedict XV: – “For with her suffering and dying son, Mary endured suffering and almost death …. One can truly affirm that together with Christ she has redeemed the human race … … For this reason, every kind of grace we receive from the treasury of the redemption is ministered as it were through the hands of the same sorrowful Virgin …”. (Apostolic Letter, Inter Sodalicia, AAS 10, 1918, p. 182); Mass and Office of Mediatrix of all Graces approved 1921).

4. Pope Pius XI: – “the virgin who is treasurer of all graces with God …”. (Apostolic letter, Cognitum sane, AAS 18, p. 213); “…. We know that all things are imparted to us from God, the greatest and best, through the hands of the Mother of God” (Encyclical Letter, Ingravescentibus malis, AAS 29, 1937, p. 380).

5. Pope Pius XII: – “it is the will of God that we obtain all favors through Mary, let everyone hasten to have recourse to Mary” (Superiore anno, AAS 32 1940, p. 145. For usage of same expression by Pius XII, cf., AAS 45, 1953, p. 382); “She teaches us all virtues; she gives us her Son and with him all the help we need, for God wished us to have everything through Mary” (Mediator Dei, 1947).

[End of earlier papal quotes]

We especially find a particularly rich contribution to the doctrinal teaching of Our Lady’s role as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix in the … writings of John Paul II. In fact, the Maternal Mediation of Mary is the subject of the entire third part of His Holiness’ 1987 encyclical, Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer).

In part I, n. 21, the Pontiff states:

“Thus there is mediation: Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of its wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself ‘in the middle’, that is to say, she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that, as such, she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind and in fact, she ‘has the right’ to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary ‘intercedes’ for mankind” (R. Mater, n. 21).

In our Holy Father’s 1 October 1997 Wednesday Audience, he reminds us:

“We recall that Mary’s mediation is essentially defined by her Divine Motherhood. Recognition of her role of Mediatrix is moreover implicit in the expression ‘our Mother,’ which presents the doctrine of Marian mediation by putting the accent on her Motherhood”.
By theological deduction therefore, one can rightly say that the title “Mediatrix of Mercy” is implicitly contained in the classic Marian title of “Mother of Mercy”.
Referring to the Blessed Virgin’s co-redemptive role, that it is Mary who in fact “enfleshed” the mission of the world’s redemption through her free and active co-operation, her “co-working,” John Paul … pondered yet again this dimension in his 18 September 1996 Audience: “For Mary, dedication to the person and work of Jesus means ... co-operation in his work of salvation. Mary carries out this last aspect of her dedication to Jesus ‘under Him,’ that is, in a condition of subordination, which is the fruit of grace. However this is true co-operation, because it is realized ‘with Him’ and, beginning with the Annunciation, it involves active participation in the work of redemption. ‘Rightly therefore,’ the Second Vatican Council observes, ‘the Fathers see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely co-operating in the work of man’s salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St. Irenaeus says, she ‘being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and the whole human race’ (Adv. Haer. III, 22, 4)”.[2]
A year later, in the Holy Father’s Wednesday Audience of April 9, 1997,[3] he explained how this co-operation of the Blessed Virgin in the redemption is “unique and unrepeatable”: “However, applied to Mary, the term “co-operator” acquires a specific meaning. The collaboration of Christians in salvation takes place after the Calvary event, whose fruits they endeavor to spread by prayer and sacrifice. Mary, instead, co-operated during the event itself and in the role of mother; thus her co-operation embraces the whole of Christ’s saving work. She alone was associated in this way with the redemptive sacrifice that merited the salvation of all mankind. In union with Christ and in submission to Him, she collaborated in obtaining the grace of salvation for all humanity. The Blessed Virgin’s role as co-operator has its source in her divine motherhood. By giving birth to the one who was destined to achieve man’s redemption, by nourishing Him, presenting Him in the temple and suffering with Him as he died on the Cross, ‘in a wholly singular way she co-operated ... in the work of the Saviour’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 61). Although God’s call to co-operate in the work of salvation concerns every human being, the participation of the Saviour’s Mother in humanity’s Redemption is a unique and unrepeatable fact”. [4]

In another Wednesday Audience, after explaining the Blessed Virgin’s “intimate participation in Jesus’ entire life,” the Holy Father paused to reflect on the Virgin’s participation at Calvary: “However, the Blessed Virgin’s association with Christ’s mission reaches its culmination in Jerusalem, at the time of the Redeemer’s Passion and Death .... The Council stresses the profound dimension of the Blessed Virgin’s presence on Calvary, recalling that she ‘faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the Cross’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 58), and points out that this union ‘in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death’ (ibid., n. 57). With our gaze illumined by the radiance of the Resurrection, we pause to reflect on the Mother’s involvement in her Son’s redeeming Passion, which was completed by her sharing in his suffering”.[5]

Therefore, it must be underscored that the Maternal Mediation of Mary is not a “new doctrine,” but a [6]firmly established revealed truth consistently taught by the Papal Magisterium.[7]

It should also be noted that the title “Mediatrix of Mercy” is a species aspect of her genus role as “Mediatrix of all graces,” as God’s greatest gift in the order of grace is none other than His mercy.
Let us now turn to an objection to Marian mediation that resurfaces particularly in various ecumenical arenas concerning the classic Pauline text of 1 Tim 2:5: “For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Although the overall context of the passage in which the verse occurs highlights the value of human “supplications, prayers, intercessions” from the faithful (cf. v. 1-4), nonetheless the “one Mediator” reference is interpreted by some in the sense of ‘exclusivity’, as a mandate prohibiting any other subordinate mediation within, and in service to, the one mediation of Jesus Christ.
Of true value is the observation of Anglican theologian John Macquarrie, in reference to the 1 Tim 2 objection raised by many like Protestant ecclesial bodies in opposition to the subordinate Marian Meditation: “The matter cannot be settled by pointing to the dangers of exaggeration or abuse, or by appealing to isolated texts of scripture such as 1 Timothy 2:5, or by the changing fashions in theology and spirituality, or by the desire not to say anything that might offend one’s partners in ecumenical dialogue. Unthinking enthusiasts may have elevated Mary to a position of virtual equality with Christ, but this aberration is not a necessary consequence of recognizing that there may be a truth striving for expression in words like Mediatrix and Coredemptrix. All responsible theologians would agree that Mary’s co-redemptive role is subordinate and auxiliary to the central role of Christ. But if she does have such a role, the more clearly we understand it, the better.[8] The proper understanding of the “Christ the one Mediator” text of 1 Tim 2:5 presupposes a critical and fundamental distinction: that the one and perfect mediation of Jesus Christ does not prevent or prohibit, but rather provides and calls for a sharing and participation by others in a subordinate and secondary fashion in this one perfect mediation of the Lord”.

Sacred Scripture reveals, in the context of several parallels, not only the possibility but in fact the obligation of Christians to participate in that which is in the first place exclusively true of Jesus Christ. We have for example, the one Sonship of Jesus Christ. There is only one true begotten Son of the Father, he who is the Logos, the Word who became flesh. At the same time, we are called to become adopted sons of God (cf. 2: Cor 5:17; 1 Jn 3:1; Jn 1:12; Gal 2:20; 2 Pet 1:4).
Adopted sonship is a participation in the one Sonship of Jesus Christ. Another scriptural example is the one Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews makes reference to the uniqueness and singularity of Jesus Christ, the “high priest” (cf. Heb 3:1; 4:14; 5:10), who alone as Priest and Victim is offered “for the sanctification of us all” (cf. Heb 10:10). At the same time, all Christians are called in different levels and degrees to participate in the one Priesthood of Jesus Christ, whether that be the ordained ministerial priesthood or the royal priesthood of the laity as discussed by the Council.
Furthermore, the Second Vatican Council substantially establishes the legitimacy of subordinate mediation as a participation in the perfect mediation of Jesus Christ, while confirming the fruit of subordinate mediation as a manifestation of that which is uniquely true and dependent upon the “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (cf. 1 Tim 2:5): “No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source”. (Lumen Gentium, n. 62).

What then of Maternal Mediation? How does the Mother of Jesus uniquely participate in the one Mediation of the Lord? In regard to Mary Mediatrix and her unique sharing in the one mediation of Jesus Christ, … John Paul II [explained] … in his Wednesday audience of October 1, 1997: “Mary’s maternal mediation does not obscure the unique and perfect mediation of Christ. Indeed, after calling Mary ‘Mediatrix’, the Council is careful to explain that this ‘neither takes away anything from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 62) .... In addition, the Council states that ‘Mary’s function as Mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 60). Therefore, far from being an obstacle to the exercise of Christ’s unique mediation, Mary instead highlights its fruitfulness and efficacy .... In proclaiming Christ the one mediator (cf. 1 Tim 2:5-6), the text of St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy excludes any other parallel mediation, but not subordinate mediation. In fact, before emphasizing the one exclusive mediation of Christ, the author urges ‘that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men’ (2:1). Are not prayers a form of mediation? Indeed, according to St. Paul, the unique mediation of Christ is meant to encourage other dependent, ministerial forms of mediation. By proclaiming the uniqueness of Christ’s mediation, the Apostle intends only to exclude any autonomous or rival mediation, and not other forms compatible with the infinite value of the Saviour’s work”.

“In Mary’s case we have a special and exceptional mediation ...”.
“In fact, ‘just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold co-operation which is but a sharing in this one source’ (Lumen Gentium, n. 62) .... In truth, what is Mary’s maternal mediation if not the Father’s gift to humanity?”[9]

Therefore, we can rightly say that the Blessed Virgin Mary shares like no other creature, angel or saint, in the one mediation of Jesus Christ, and thus is rightly and uniquely referred to as the “Mediatrix” (Lumen Gentium, n. 62). Mary in a way all her own — beyond all other creatures — participates in 1 Tim 2:5, because of her unique co-redemptive participation in the acquisition of grace with and under Jesus as the New Eve that consequently results in her unique mediatorial task in the distribution of the graces of Calvary. John Paul explains in Redemptoris Mater: “Mary entered, in a way all her own, into the one mediation ‘between God and men’ which is the mediation of the man Christ Jesus (cf. 1 Tim 2:5) ... we must say that through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ .... In Mary’s case we have a special and exceptional mediation ...”.[10]

In sum, it is abundantly clear from the Magisterial teachings of the Church that Our Lady is the Co-redemptrix who uniquely shares in the one mediation of Christ in acquiring the fruits of the Redemption, and as a result she uniquely participates in that selfsame perfect mediation of Christ as Mediatrix of the graces of the Redemption; and that this theologically constitutes the basis for her universal role as “Mediatrix of Mercy”; and as “Advocate” (or principal Intercessor) for all God’s people. (Cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 62).

What then of the prophetic dimension of the title, “Mediatrix of Mercy?” How does the private revelation of Divine Mercy and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, prophesied at Fatima, unite in this one title: “Mediatrix of Mercy”? What does this title say to us at this point of human history? ….
I would suggest that these two great movements, the Triumph of the Divine Mercy and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, which are not man-made but heaven-made, have a supernatural complementarity.
Let us examine a few examples.
Firstly, let us look at the theology of the prayer that we find in both of these movements. Note the similarity in theology between the following prayers given at Fatima and to Blessed Faustina.
During the 1916 preparatory apparitions from the angel of Portugal to the three children, the following prayer was revealed: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which He himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.”

And from our Merciful Lord to Blessed Faustina, the revealed Chaplet Prayer:

“Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

What is the common theological foundation of these two revealed celestial prayers?
Firstly, there is a foundation of Eucharistic reparation, which comes in several forms. Eucharistic reparation is first and foremost in the form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered by the ordained priest, and Eucharistic Adoration. But note in these two heavenly movements for this [millennium] that there is a further dimension of Eucharistic reparation, a dimension which also extends to the laity.
In the exercise of their royal priesthood, the laity offers already consecrated hosts, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ to appease the justice of the Eternal Father. The Father looks down and sees the sins of humanity. He first sees the priest, the one set aside to offer the Sacrifice, the one who offers the Eucharist in continuation of the sacrifice of Calvary. The Father looks down and sees, amidst the ubiquitous sin of darkness of the world, these shoots of light, the Sacrifice of the Mass offered by our priests. And because of the mystical lights breaking the darkness of sin, the Father does not respond in justice, which is also a part of His nature, but rather He responds in mercy. That is why Fulton Sheen often quipped that if the priest does not understand, first and foremost, that he is one set aside to offer the Sacrifice for the people, he will forever have an identity crisis. This is the pre-eminent task of the priest, to offer the Sacrifice so that mercy is the response of the Father rather than justice.
Secondly, and most especially in the [third millennium], it is also the laity who are called — not to consecrate, which is beyond their power — but to offer the already consecrated Eucharistic Jesus to the Father in reparation for sin. We do that for the sake of his sorrowful Passion, his Passion in Eucharistic form, as it already exists consecrated in the tabernacles of the world. The offering of the laity (in a way similar to the Sacrifice of the Redeemer that is gained by the maternal and lay sacrifice of the Coredemptrix at Calvary) is not going to have the same spiritual efficacy as the priestly Sacrifice, but it will be a corollary, an association of the priest and the laity offering the Eucharistic Jesus to the Father so that he will respond in mercy rather than justice.
In sum, it is a heavenly appeal for the offering of the Eucharistic Lord in atonement and reparation for the sins of the world, and an exercise of the priests and the laity in bringing to the Father the Passion and the Eucharistic presence of his Son by all Christ’s faithful.
We find another complementarity between the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the Triumph of Divine Mercy in many inspired Diary references of Blessed Faustina to the Motherly Mediation of Mary in the order of grace. Clearly manifest from the opening pages of the Diary, we have numerous revealed examples of the salvific role of the Mediatrix of Mercy.

In Notebook I, n. 11, p. 7, it is the Mother of God as Advocate who guides Sister Faustina to shelter: “When I got off the train and saw that all were going their separate ways, I was overcome with fear. What am I to do? To whom should I turn, as I know no one? So I said to the Mother of God, “Mary, lead me, guide me.” Immediately I heard these words within me telling me to leave the town and to go to a certain nearby village where I would find a safe lodging for the night. I did so and found in fact that everything was just as the Mother of God told me.”

Notebook I, n. 20, p. 11 refers to Our Lady’s Mediation of grace to souls in Purgatory: “I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her “The Star of the Sea.” She brings them refreshment.”

The union of human suffering with the suffering Heart of the Co-redemptrix can be seen from Notebook I, n. 25, p. 14: “During the night, the Mother of God visited me, holding the Infant Jesus in Her arms. My soul was filled with joy, and I said, “Mary, my Mother, do You know how terribly I suffer?” And the Mother of God answered me, I know how much you suffer, but do not be afraid. I share with you your suffering, and I shall always do so.”

We also see our Lady’s mediation of grace and advocacy for nations is manifest in Notebook I, n. 33, p 18: “I was to make this novena for the intention of my Motherland. On the seventh day of the novena I saw, between heaven and earth, the Mother of God, clothed in a bright robe. She was praying with Her hands folded on Her bosom, Her eyes fixed on Heaven. From Her Heart issued forth fiery rays, some of which were turned toward Heaven while the others were covering our country”.

Our Lady’s mediation of the special grace of purity for Sister Faustina as found in Notebook I, n. 40, p.21: “... and [Jesus] said to me, I give you eternal love that your purity may be untarnished and as a sign that you will never be subject to temptations against purity. Jesus took off His golden cincture and tied it around my waist. Since then I have never experienced any attacks against this virtue, either in my heart or in my mind. I later understood that this was one of the greatest graces which the Most Holy Virgin Mary had obtained for me, as for many years I had been asking this grace of Her. Since that time I have experienced an increasing devotion to the Mother of God. She has taught me how to love God interiorly and also how to carry out His holy will in all things. O Mary, You are joy, because through You God descended to earth [and] into my heart.”

Further reference to Our Lady’s mediation of grace by Blessed Faustina, occur in Notebook I, n. 315, p. 144, “Mother of grace, teach me to live by [the power of] God”.

In Notebook I, n. 330, p. 149, we read: “I heard a few of the words that the Mother of God spoke to him [i.e., my confessor] but not everything. The words were: I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy and your Mother.”

From Notebook I, n. 564, p. 238: “[Mary] said to me, ‘You give Me great joy when you adore the Holy Trinity for the graces and privileges which were accorded Me.’ And further: “... I went into the chapel to break the wafer, in spirit, with my loved ones, and I asked the Mother of God for graces for them” (Notebook I, n. 182, p. 101).

Lastly, Blessed Faustina entrusts her very life to Our Lady as we read in Notebook I, n. 79, p. 41: “O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer You my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will follow it. I place everything in Your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with Your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body. Defend me with Your power against all enemies, and especially against those who hide their malice behind the mask of virtue. O lovely lily! You are for me a mirror, O my Mother!”

A further dynamic complementarity between the Triumph of Divine Mercy and Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the undeniable urgency of both heavenly calls. It would be a grave error to “demythologize the historical reality and transmission of urgency contained in both these supernatural movements.” Without question, then, the Diary gives vivid and consistent universal testimony to the mission of the Mediatrix of Mercy. Both messages manifest an authentic celestial and historical urgency, an urgency of peace and an urgency of mercy, but nonetheless urgency. The following is the fundamental message from Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, with one prophetic promise that “in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”: “Continue to say the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war; for she alone can save it .... Sacrifice yourselves for sinners; and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice: ‘My Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’ You have seen Hell — where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wants to establish throughout the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people will do what I will tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace. The war is going to end. But if they do not stop offending God, another and worse war will break out in the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that is the great sign that God gives you, that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. To forestall this, I shall come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If they heed my request, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, my Immaculate Heart shall triumph” (July 13, 1917).

Many of us are aware of the fact that when the Holy Father was shot on May 13, 1981, on the anniversary of the first message of Fatima, after the bullet was removed from his abdomen, the Holy Father asked that the bullet be brought and molded into part of the crown of Our Lady of Fatima. So clearly [did] he attest his life to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima! Thus we see in Fatima a message of urgency, of conversion, and of Eucharistic reparation, all conditional upon man’s response.
The urgency of the message of Divine Mercy is manifested not only in the obvious expressions from private revelation of Blessed Faustina, but also from our Holy Father’s 1982 encyclical on Divine Mercy, Dives in Misericordia. In this encyclical, also little noticed, the Holy Father warns of the potential new flood due to the contemporary sins of humanity:


“… however, at no time and in no historical period — especially at a moment as critical as our own — can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it .... Like the prophets, let us appeal to that love which has maternal characteristics and which, like a mother, follows each of her children, each lost sheep, even if they should number millions, even if in the world evil should prevail over goodness, even if contemporary humanity should deserve a ‘new flood’ on account of its sins .... And if any of our contemporaries does not share the faith and hope which lead me, as a servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God, to implore God’s mercy for humanity in this hour of history, let him at least try to understand the reason for my concern. It is dictated by love for man, for all that is human and which, according to the intuitions of many of our contemporaries, is threatened by an immense danger .... The mystery of Christ ... also obliges me to proclaim mercy as God’s merciful love .... It likewise obliges me to have recourse to that mercy and to beg for it in this difficult, critical phase of the history of the Church and of the world, as we approach the end of the second millennium” (Dives in Misericordia, n. 15).

This, of course, is where we historically find ourselves in the [early Third Millennium].
What then constitutes the relationship between the Triumph of Divine Mercy and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary? ….

“… let us be icons of Divine Mercy and the Immaculate Heart, doing our individual small parts, fulfilling the prophecy that “all generations will call me blessed,” (Lk 1:48) leading to the Triumph of Divine Mercy, the Eucharistic reign of our Lord Jesus, a New Springtime for the Church”.
Dr. Miravalle tells us what he thinks this is, concluding his address with a wonderful exhortation that we can all take away and try to apply:

The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has as its primary goal the mission to open hearts to the gift of Divine Mercy, and therefore the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, properly understood, coincides with the Triumph of Divine Mercy. The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary essentially serves the Triumph of Divine Mercy, as the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart serves to open, prepare and sustain human hearts to and with the gift of Divine Mercy from the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Our Lord. This will lead us to the “Era of peace,” the Eucharistic Reign of the Sacred Heart, a time when the mercy of the Heart of Jesus is in fact accepted by the human heart, the awaited and promised “New Springtime for the Church.” It is Mary, Mediatrix of Mercy, who will, through the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart, mediate to the world the graces of Divine Mercy and the Reign of the Sacred Heart upon the earth. The Triumph of Divine Mercy and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary seek this self-same goal. What then is the key to unlock the inestimable graces of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which leads to the Triumph of Divine Mercy in the hearts of humanity? Many Marian cardinals, bishops, priests and lay leaders worldwide believe, as I do, that it will be the papal proclamation of the whole truth of Our Lady in her role as the Mother of all Peoples, the Co-redemptrix, the Mediatrix of Grace and Mercy, and the Advocate.
Critical to understanding the necessity of this Papal definition of Our Lady’s maternal Mediation is understanding the basic principle of God’s providence with regard to respect for human freedom. Why would a papal proclamation of a dogma be necessary for the full release of graces and mercy from the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
God, the Abba Father, does not force his grace upon us. God has tremendous respect for human freedom and the freedom of the human heart, and his grace is only given when it is petitioned for, and it is only received when the heart has been opened to it. This is also true regarding the salvific role of the Mother of Mercy. Her titles are her works. When we call the Blessed Mother the Mediatrix of Mercy, that is not just an honorary title; it is a function that she performs for the Mystical Body, and until we fully acknowledge that title, she cannot fully exercise that function for her family.

Thus, there exists a true theological foundation, that until the Holy Father freely makes the proclamation on the highest level of truth, the Blessed Mother will not have the freedom to fully exercise her titles and their functions as the Coredemptrix, the Mediatrix of all graces, the Advocate for the human family, intercede for the much awaited Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart, which leads to the Triumph of Divine Mercy. As one author put it, God awaited the yes, the fiat of a woman to bring the world His Son, and now the Woman awaits the fiat of one man, the Vicar of Christ, to bring the world the inestimable graces of the Triumph of Her most Immaculate Heart.
In sum, then, we can see that the Eternal Father, who is rich in mercy does not force His grace upon us, but rather requires our fiat to receive His graces. And, therefore, until the Church freely and fully acknowledges Our Lady’s roles as the Mother of All Peoples, the “Mother Suffering” (the Co-redemptrix), the “Mother nourishing” (the Mediatrix of all Graces and Mercy), and the “Mother pleading” (the Advocate), then Our Mother will not be able to fully exercise these mediational roles for the Church and a world in desperate need for a New Pentecost from the Spirit through the Bride.

The need for this great Marian Dogma to initiate the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart is being petitioned for by over 530 bishops, inclusive of 44 cardinals, and nearly 5 million Catholic faithful are praying and petitioning for this papal proclamation. Of course, as to time and appropriateness of this papal proclamation, we completely submit to the decision of our [pope].
Let us, therefore, heed the call of Heaven for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, leading to the Triumph of Divine Mercy. Let us use the powerful supernatural instruments of Rosary, Chaplet, Eucharistic Adoration, and reparational offerings to atone for the ubiquitous sins of humanity. Let us pray for the proclamation of the whole truth about the Mother of all Peoples, freeing her to fully mediate the Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of Mercy and Grace, and Advocate, for the Church and world today. And let us be icons of Divine Mercy and the Immaculate Heart, doing our individual small parts, fulfilling the prophecy that “all generations will call me blessed,” (Lk 1:48) leading to the Triumph of Divine Mercy, the Eucharistic reign of our Lord Jesus, a New Springtime for the Church.


[1] For example, cf. Pope St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, 1904; Pope Benedict XV, Inter Socalicia, 1918; Pope Pius XII, AAS 38, 1946, p. 266; John Paul II, L’Osservatore Romano, Issue n. 20, 1983.
2John Paul II, General Audience of Wednesday, 18 September 1996, L’Osservatore Romano, 25 Sept. 1996, p. 19, English ed.

3 Monsignor Gherarandi -- Co-redemptrix (“the term ‘cooperator’”). It is noteworthy that the eminent Roman theologian, Msgr. Bruno Gherarandi, in his 1998 scholarly text on Our Lady Coredemptrix entitled, “La Correndrice” testified that during the actual delivery of the April 9 audience by the Holy Father in Italian, that the Pope explicitly used the title, “Co-redemptrix” on repeated occasions during the audience. Unfortunately, the entire L’Osservatore Romano re-translated the term “Co-redemptrix” as “co-operator” in the published version of the Papal address.
4 Pope John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of April 9, 1997, L’Osservatore Romano, April 16, 1997, Weekly ed. 7

5 Pope John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of April 2, 1997, L’Osservatore Romano, April 9, 1997, Weekly ed.
6Cf. Mark Miravalle, “Mary, Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate: Foundational Presence in Divine Revelation,” and Arthur Calkins, “Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate in the Contemporary Roman Liturgy,” Mary Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate: Theological Foundations, Towards a Papal Definition?, Queenship Publishing, Santa Barbara, CA, 1995; A. Robichaud, S.M., “Mary, Dispensatrix of All Graces,” J.B. Carol, Mariology, v. 2, p.445; J. Bittremieux, De meditatione universali B. M. Virginis quoad gratias, Brugis, 1926, p.201; M. O’Carroll, C.S.Sp., “Mediation,” Theotokos, p. 241; G. Roschini, S.M., Maria Santissima Nella Storia Della Salvezza, v. II, p.224; J. B. Carol, De Corredemptione Beatae Virginis Mariae, p.152.
7John Macquarrie, “Mary Coredemptrix and Disputes Over Justification and Grace: An Anglican View” as found in this anthology.
8 Pope John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of 1 Oct. 1997.
9Redemptoris Mater, n. 39.

Consecration and Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary




St. John Eudes, a seventeenth century Saint, composed two Masses in honour of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He, echoing the words of St. Augustine, said that these two Hearts are so closely attuned that, in a certain sense, they constitute one single Harp, vibrating in unison, giving forth but one sound, and one song, singing the same canticle of love. (Taken from SOUL magazine, May-June, 1986, p. 13). Adding words which Vatican II’s doctrine on Our Lady’s rôle in the Church would later parallel quite closely, St. John Eudes maintained that, “after God and His Son Jesus”, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “is the first foundation from which we cannot separate ourselves without incurring the evident danger of eternal damnation”, since our salvation had been wrought in and through Mary’s Immaculate Heart (ibid.). Earlier saints had already testified to the fact that our salvation was wrought in and through Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Two contemporaries, St. Jerome and St. Augustine concur that all the afflictions that Our Lord endured during His Passion and Death on the Cross, had their counterpart in Mary’s Heart. Every blow rending the Body of the Son had its cruel echo in the Heart of His mother (ibid., p. 14). St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) said the same, and he asked: “Why wouldst Thou, most honoured Lady, be immolated for us? Is not Our Saviour’s Passion sufficient for our salvation? Must the Mother also be crucified with Her Son?” (ibid.). John Paul II, when explaining the meaning of Consecration at Fatima in 1982, also acknowledged this profound link in the Plan of God between the Hearts of Jesus and Mary: “The Immaculate heart of Mary, opened with the words ‘Woman, behold Your son!’ is spiritually united with the Heart of her Son opened by the soldier’s spear” (In Fatima’s Gospel Call, pp. 8-9). And again: “Mary’s Heart was opened by the same love for man and for the world with which Christ loved man and the world, offering Himself for them on the Cross, until the soldier’s spear struck that blow …” (ibid., p. 9). Three years later, John Paul II, mindful that Our Lord had stated explicitly to Sister Lucia that he wished for devotion to the Immaculate Heart to be placed alongside devotion to his own Sacred Heart, used the term “…'admirable alliance of Hearts’ of the Son of God and of His Mother (Angelus Address of September 15, 1985) to attest the unfathomable bond that exists between the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.


In a later speech, when addressing a Symposium of theologians on the same subject, the Holy Father elaborated on this theme in these words:


“We can indeed say that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has been an important part of the ‘sense of Faith’ of the People of God during recent centuries. These devotions seek to direct our attention to Christ and to the role of His Mother in the mystery of Redemption, and, though distinct, they are inter-related by reason of the enduring relation of love that exists between the Son and His Mother”. (Soul, Jan-Feb, 1987, p. 18).


It is because of this “enduring relation of love that exists between the Son and His Mother” that we might regard the devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as being a necessary complement to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the same way as we look upon the doctrine of the New Eve as being necessary to complete that of the New Adam. John Paul II has used the context of his two solemn acts of entrusting to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (in 1982, and again in 1984) to clarify for us the nature of the relationships between the two Hearts:


“Our act of consecration refers ultimately to the Heart of her Son, for as the Mother of Christ She is wholly united to His redemptive mission. As at the marriage feast of Cana, when She said ‘Do whatever He tells you’, Mary directs all things to her Son, who answers our prayers and forgives our sins. Thus by dedicating ourselves to the Heart of Mary we discover a sure way to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, symbol of the love of our Saviour”.


Our Blessed Lord, therefore, did not suffer some strange lapse of memory when He, after informing St. Margaret Mary in the seventeenth century that the reparative devotion to His Sacred Heart was to be, in the Saint’s own words, “the last effort of His Love” to the world, He then, now in our modern era, asked for – even insisted upon – the practice of systematic devotion to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother.

This may need some further elaboration.
The Most Blessed Trinity has devised an ingenious Plan for the Redemption of the modern world. We can confidently apply to this great Plan the sublime title, ‘New Redemption, because, as we find, Our Lord Himself used this very same title to convey to St. Margaret Mary a sense of the powerful efficacy of the new program of reparation. The essence of this Divine Plan consists in Consecration and Reparation. These two elements are specially focussed upon by Pope Pius XI when he, in his classic encyclical on devotion to the Sacred Heart, proclaimed:
“But certainly … if the first and chief thing in consecration is the repayment of the love of the creature to the love of the Creator, the second thing at once follows from it, that, if the Uncreated love has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offences, compensation should be made in some way for the injustice that has been inflicted: in common language we call this debt one of reparation …”. (“Miserentissiimus Redemptor”, May 8, 1928, AAS 20: 167-168).
The first phase of the redemptive Plan: to pour out through the Sacred Heart of Jesus an abundant excess of love upon humankind, was revealed to St. Margaret Mary in the seventeenth century. Its practices include the
Nine First Fridays of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,and
the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home.


This plan was revealed to St. Margaret Mary in terms of a ‘New Redemption’; a phrase which needs to be properly understood, since there was nothing at all lacking – either for our age or for any other age – in Christ’s original act of Redemption upon the Cross.
Fr. Larkin’s simple but effective explanation of the phrase ‘New Redemption’ in his book, The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, that its ‘meaning is of course that the effects of the Redemption would be renewed through devotion to His Heart’, should suffice for the average reader who is not a theologian.
The second, and concluding phase of the redemptive Plan, as we saw, was first revealed by Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima in 1917 to the three shepherd children, but was explained in detail by Sr. Lucia alone in the 1920’s. It consists in Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary and reparative devotion to her Immaculate Heart. The Church sees Mary, not as the goal, but as the guide, who always leads souls who honour her properly to her Son, but especially to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (cf. “Redemptoris Mater”, # 44).
The reparative aspect of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is summarised in the Reparation program, commonly known as The Five First Saturdays, as has been outlined and explained in this chapter.
Now, as we come to regard the Fatima revelations about the Immaculate Heart of Mary in terms of their being a concluding phase in this Divine redemptive Plan – whose first phase consisted in the seventeenth century revelations – it become apparent that St. Margaret Mary’s same description, “last effort of His Love”, may legitimately be applied also to the Marian devotion of the Five First Saturdays. Our Lord meant what He said. There is no contradiction whatsoever.
The Blessed Trinity had no intention of revealing all at once to humankind the full extent of so ineffable a plan for reparation in the new-fashioned world. A certain amount of time would be required for this all-encompassing spiritual program to be brought to a state of mature actuality on earth, so as to be susceptible of being absorbed into the minds and hearts of finite and sinful creatures. It was as if Heaven must painstakingly craft and design its program of reparation, allowing some centuries to pass before the mystical weapon, honed and shaped to perfection, was ready to be unveiled in all its grandeur and solemnity. It is foreshadowed by the mystical “two-edged sword” of Scripture, to sing about which the Psalmist composed “a new song to the Lord” (Psalm 149:1, 6). This finely honed sword pf double devotion is goven only to God’s faithful, in their spiritual warfare with the rampant forces of evil: “… to deal out vengeance to the nations and punishment on all the peoples; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles in fetters of iron”. (vv. 7-8). John Paul II had put it another way, when he had reminded us that: “If we turn to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, She will surely help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future”. (Symposium, with reference to “Redemptor Hominis”). We may be sure that this great Pope with his acute sense of destiny was guided here by his awareness of how history has shown that nations may either heed the warnings made by Almighty God through His prophets and saints, and be saved, like the Ninevites at the preaching of Jonah, and like the entire Jewish nation in Queen Esther’s time; or they can refuse to listen and to repent, and so suffer the terrible consequences of their ill-will, such as the majority of the Jewish nation when confronted by the Messiah, preceded by His own great prophet St John the Baptist. In our own age God has sent to warn us, not a prophet, but Our Lady Queen of Prophets. She, exercising as Queen the rôle of the ancient Hebrew prophets, and of St. John the Baptist, has in her visitations of the modern era warned the world of impending catastrophes and chastisements without satisfactory repentance. John Paul II had in fact likened the tone of Our Lady of Fatima’s plea: “Be converted and do penance”, to the vehement call to penance by the Precursor: “It sounds severe. It sounds like john the Baptist speaking on the banks of the Jordan. It invites to repentance. It gives a warning. It calls to prayer. It recommends the Rosary”. (“Speech at Fatima, in 1982). Universal prayer and penance have always been the remedy for averting disaster and for turning away God’s wrath from the face of the earth. But it is only in modern times that Heaven has specified, through Mary the Queen of prophets, that the prayer and penance be of a reparative nature in relation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. “It is through the Immaculate Heart of Mary that peace must be asked, because God has entrusted the peace of the world to her”. (Jacinta’s words to Lucia in 1919). Unfortunately however, despite the signs and miracles that the Mother of Christ has provided in abundance at places like Lourdes and Fatima, we of the modern era have generally allowed her solemn message to fall to the ground unheeded. Her most precious gift to us, the request of the Communion of Reparation of the Five First Saturdays, far from becoming known ever more perfectly throughout the Catholic community with the passing of time, has – until very recently – been almost universally spurned by the majority. Part of the reason for this is no doubt ignorance. Catholics would have hardly ever, in the post-Vatican II era, had this devotion even mentioned to them from the pulpit, let alone properly explained. In the case of genuine ignorance, those true words: ‘One cannot love what one does not know’, would certainly apply. But, whatever be the cause of this unhappy neglect, the best remedy will always be that Catholics take upon themselves the personal responsibility of ensuring that they, in obedience to Our Lady’s clear directives, become conversant with the devotion, so as to practice it properly and to lead others to do likewise.